


Our Only Valentine

by brokenhighways



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Flashbacks, Flowers, M/M, POV Multiple, Reverse Big Bang Challenge, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-11
Updated: 2014-02-11
Packaged: 2018-01-12 00:07:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1179562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenhighways/pseuds/brokenhighways
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Unrequited love is one thing, but Jared Padalecki just happens to be in love with a hot, awesome (and very much taken) guy called Jensen that he only sees once a year -- on Valentine’s Day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Our Only Valentine

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the spn_reversebang challenge. 
> 
> **Art Prompt:** [here](http://i.imgur.com/O4inp3s.jpg)
> 
> **Art Post:** [here](http://evian-fork.livejournal.com/149153.html)
> 
> **Fic Post @ LJ:** [here](http://brokenhighways.livejournal.com/26215.html)
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you to the mods for running this challenge, and for graciously allowing me to change my posting date :)

****

**Day 8 | Present Day | 2013**

  
_Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies._  
  
  
  
Jared’s always been a born romantic. As a child he loved reading love stories, he’d clung to a tattered copy of Romeo and Juliet long before he was old enough to fully understand it. He wrote love poems, he played matchmaker for his friends. He did a lot of silly, sappy shit. What made Jared tick was the thought of people being  _happy_ ; happiness was like an infectious disease that he couldn’t help but catch, and he was addicted to making people smile, and helping other people make others smile. Sure, it was a little weird maybe, a little out there. But the feeling was natural to Jared. Starting up the store made perfect sense. He couldn’t keep working at the florist, because the owner Sam was thinking about selling the place and the opportunity merely presented itself. He’d been unsure about what to base his business on at first. Florist, jewellers, chocolatier, book store were just a few ideas that he considered. Finally, after months of deliberation, his best friend Genevieve suggested that he open some sort of specialist gift store. Jared wasn’t initially sold on the idea, because specialist stores were ridiculously difficult to keep open.  
  
“But, you’re so good at finding gifts,” Genevieve had said. “My mother hasn’t complained once since you started telling me what to get her.”  
  
“That’s probably because anything was better than the Starbucks’ gift cards she got the three years before that,” Jared responded. He had thought about what she said and eventually, he’d concluded that she was onto a good idea. There were no similar stores in the area, so he’d have that advantage at least. And well, wasn’t helping others make others happy what he wanted most of all?  
  
Jared loves Valentine’s Day. Not just because he’s a romantic, but because he loves that so many people go to so much effort to make sure that their loved ones know that they’re cared for. It fills him with joy, makes him want to just declare a free-for-all each year. Of course, being that it’s his most popular time of the year, that wouldn’t be very business-savvy of him. Jared might be all about facilitating love and happiness, but in this economic climate, giving away business for free would be stupid of him. So yeah, he loves Valentine’s Day. Loves helping people pick out gifts, loves looking at someone and just  _knowing_  what they need.  
  
The fact that he never has anyone to spend the day with is the part that he hates.  
  
People often assume that he must be in a perfect and happy relationship because he’s so good at helping others thrive. He can’t count the number of times he’s heard the words,  _your girlfriend is lucky to have you_. Half of the time Genevieve’s in the store, people assume and he doesn’t have it in him to correct them. He’s too busy thinking about the person who’s always in his heart; the guy he’s been in love with for the past nine years.  
  
~~~~~~

 

  
**Day 1 | 2006**

****

_Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye_

  
Jared's shift at  _Sam’s Flowers_  starts like any other. He situates himself by the counter and loads up his laptop so that he can check his emails and maybe get started on his Lit paper. It’s February 14th, one of the most romantic and stressful days of the year for those lucky people that so happened to be in love (or lust). It is around 5pm, so Jared is sure that most of the rush has subsided. Well, that’s what Sam claims anyway; Jared’s only been working here a couple of months.  
  
He’s playing  _Pinball_ when he hears the bell by the door chime. He looks up to see a tall guy approaching the counter with what appears to be an apprehensive look on his face. Great. A first timer. First time flower buyers are the bane of Jared’s existence. They either order a bunch of roses, or they spend hours looking through the catalogue before giving up and asking Jared to pick something. He doesn’t understand how people can intend to buy flowers without  _knowing_  what to get. Maybe that is because he sees things differently. For instance, he takes one look at the man who’s just entered the store and he knows that he’s going to leave with a bunch of beautiful pink irises because he’s after something that shows his admiration. Jared’s not sure how he knows, he just does. And while things would go a lot easier if he just told this guy to buy them, Sam’s warned him off being too pushy.  
  
“Can I help you?” Jared asks when the man reaches the desk. Green eyes lock onto his and he feels something shift in the room. The guy is...well, he’s  _hot_. That’s probably why he obviously has a girlfriend to buy flowers for. Though, he could be getting them for his Mom?  
  
“Yeah, I...there’s this girl and I wanted to get her something nice.” Oh well. The mom thing was a long-shot anyway.  
  
“Sure thing,” Jared says. “Do you have something in mind?” The guy blushes and Jared has to bite his lip to stop himself from blurting out something stupid about how adorable he is.  
  
“I’m Jared, by the way.” _Introduce yourself if the customer is skittish_ , is Sam’s mantra.  _Don’t scare them away; we need the business_. Apparently the rise of online-based florists is killing her business.  
  
“Oh. I’m Jensen.” Jensen smiles nervously and Jared puts him out of his misery and hands him a catalogue. It’s more of a booklet that shows and lists what they sell on the premise and what they can order, but Sam insists on calling it a catalogue. Jensen starts to flip through it gently and watching him carefully consider all of the options set something off in Jared’s chest. Usually guys just come in and order a dozen roses, or tulips or  _something_   _pretty_  without putting much thought into it. Jared can tell that Jensen was different. For instance, he’s flipping through the pages far too quickly for him to be really looking at the option.  
  
“That was quick,” Jared says when Jensen slides the catalogue back over to him. “You didn’t see anything that you liked?”  
  
“Actually, I already knew what I wanted to buy before I came here, it’s just my first time,” Jensen pauses and looks at Jared. Jared can’t help raising an eyebrow at  _first time_. Jensen turns even redder. “God, no, I mean it’s my first time buying flowers. Not...deflowering myself. Or, uh, being deflowered.” Jared can’t help it. He burst into a fit of laughter, shoulders shaking so hard that the counter vibrates a little. After a few seconds, Jensen joins in as well and the only thing that makes them sober up is when Jared’s fingers brush against Jensen’s hand as he takes back the catalogue. Jared swears that he feels some sort of spark, and that his skin tingles from where they touched. He stops laughing abruptly and Jensen follows suit.  
  
“So, what do you want?” Jared asks.  
  
“Pink irises,” Jensen says. “I want some pink irises.”  
  
 ** _Present Day_**  
  
  
  
“Helloooo. Earth to Jared.” Jared blinks and looks up to see Genevieve waving her tiny hand in his face. He shakes his head a bit, as if he’s trying to throw the memory away, which is a stupid analogy because he’d never want to do that.  
  
“Oh, hey,” he says. “What’s up?” It’s early, around six in the morning. Jared always opens the store a little earlier on Valentine’s Day, partly due to excitement and partly due to nervousness because this is the one day of the year that Jared gets to see  _him_  - the man that he’s in love with.  
  
“You have your ‘Woe, Jensen doesn’t love me” face on,” Genevieve says in a tone that tells Jared that she still doesn’t get how he can be in love with a guy that he’s only met a handful of times. Jensen’s a lawyer (a good one, no doubt, but that might be the whole  _love_  thing talking). He first came into the store about nine years ago, all fresh-faced and just out of college, while Jared was just about to start. Jared still remembers how flustered Jensen had been when picking out the  _perfect_  flowers. Jared dragged enough out of him to know that Jensen was buying them for his girlfriend, and that he’d never gotten her flowers before.  
  
Jensen had come into the store every year since, and somewhere along the line Jared gone and fallen in love with him, like the dumbass he was, because falling in love with a guy you saw once a year was pretty stupid, even for Jared. Still, he longed for this day every year, spent hours, days, months, thinking about how it’d go. He emailed Jensen occasionally, under the guise of sending monthly coupons or announcing a new service. He had a mailing list, but he always sent Jensen’s personally, and asked how he was. Sometimes Jensen replied and sometimes he didn’t.  
  
Jared’s heart still skipped a beat every time he did.  
  
“I don’t,” Jared replies eventually, when he realises that Gen is looking at him shrewdly.  
  
“I’m just wondering if he’s going to show up this year.”  
  
“Well, if he doesn’t that’s good, right?” Genevieve says. She’s restocking the heart-shaped chocolate tins and has her back turned to him. He’s thankful that she can’t see his face. Jared’s not really in the mood to argue over Jensen.  
  
“Yeah,” he says. “That’s good. It would be a good thing.”  
  
~

 

  
**Day 2 | 2007**

****

_A true friend is someone who lets you have total freedom to be yourself - and especially to feel. Or, not feel._

  
Jensen’s got no classes on Wednesdays so the fact that Valentine’s Day just so happens to fall on Wednesday is a bonus. It means that he has a whole day to get his girlfriend Danneel some nice flowers and maybe make her some dinner. He’s not really big on the whole 'Day of Love' thing. He’s training to be a lawyer and well, he’s probably going to profit from the fact that love doesn’t last later down the line. It would be kind of hypocritical of him to being all crazy about it. Danneel loves it though, the mere mention of flowers and chocolates makes her excited and well, Jensen will do anything (within reason) to keep her happy.  
  
Like subjecting himself to another trip to the florist where he embarrassed himself last year. That floppy haired kid, Jared, flipped some switch in him and he’d been a flustered mess of a human being. Jensen still turns red at the mere memory of the  _deflowered_  comment. Jared’s not there when Jensen walks into the store, just a woman with long brown hair who’s leaning over the counter with a bleary look on her face. Jensen wonders if he should nip back out and bring her coffee. She spots him before he can make a decision and beckons him into the store. He’s about to say good morning when she sighs and says,  
  
“Don’t worry, Jared’ll be here soon. He’s just gone out to get coffee.”  
  
“Oh, I wasn’t—“  
  
“It’s fine,” she says hurriedly. “He’s always been better at this whole  _customer service_ thing anyway. You know someone had the nerve to call me a rude charlatan in the paper last week!”  
  
“Did you sell them wilted flowers?” Jensen jokes, feeling a little awkward about the route this conversation seems to be taking. She glares at him. Luckily, he’s saved from possible death by the bell chiming, and someone comes into the store. The scent of coffee hits Jensen’s nose almost instantly, and he turns around to see Jared pushing the door open with his shoulder as he balances a couple of paper bags and coffee cup sleeve.  
  
“I’ll be out back with the flowers,” the woman says. “Disturb me over non-purchases and die.” Jensen tries not to stare after her with a scared look on his face but he must fail because Jared laughs softly.  
  
“She’s not a morning person,” he says. “She offered me double pay to work the whole day. She also hates Valentine’s Day.”  
  
“Don’t you have classes?” Jensen asks. He’s not sure if Jared even remembers him from last year; they haven’t seen each other since. Maybe it’s weird that Jensen still remembers him. Jared looks a lot different than he did last year. He’s still a bit gangly, but he’s definitely starting to fill out more and he looks less of a kid now.  
  
“I’m cutting today,” Jared says, shrugging his jacket off now that he’s set everything down. “So, what are you after?” For some reason, Jensen suddenly remembers that he practised calligraphy back when he was in high school. He was pretty good at too.  
  
“Uh, well, I’m taking a calligraphy class and I thought that I’d offer you guys my services for today. You know, as practice.”  
  
“It’s Jensen, right?” Jared asks in a way that says he knows very well what Jensen’s name is. Jensen humours him anyway and nods.  
  
“And you’re Jared.”  
  
“I am, and I also wasn’t born yesterday,” Jared says in a cold voice. “Are you snooping around for those jackasses over at  _Fleur_?”  
  
“Fleur?” Jensen says dumbly. Jared’s eyes narrow and Jensen starts to wonder if there’s something in the air today.  
  
“The other florist in this area, they’ve been stealing our business over the last few months,” Jared says. “It’s why Sam is so stressed; she’s worried that we won’t make half as much as we usually do.”  
  
“I have no part to play in the great Florist War of 2006,” Jensen says solemnly. “I swear. Cross my heart and hope to die.” Jared eyes him suspiciously for a few seconds before he cracks into a smile. Jensen’s not sure why he goes into dork mode around this kid, but Jared doesn’t seem to mind.  
  
“Sorry…I’m just not in a good mood today,” Jared says wearily.  
  
“What’s up?” Jensen says.  
  
“I…don’t you have better things to do?” Jared asks glumly. “A girlfriend to hang out with or something?”  
  
“She has classes all day,” Jensen says. “And I really don’t have anything to do over the next couple of hours.” It’s only ten AM, and truth be told, Jensen’s not really sure why he was up so early.  
  
“My boyfriend broke up with me last night,” Jared says without being prompted. “Over a voicemail message. Right before Valentine’s Day.”  
  
“That sucks, man,” Jensen says. He’s not too good at this comfort thing, but he can try, right? “Did he tell you why?”  
  
“Usual stuff, it’s not me, it’s him, we want different things blah, blah, blah.” Jared’s obviously trying his best to seem nonplussed, but Jensen can hear the underlying hurt in his voice.  
  
“That’s original.”  
  
“I know, right,” Jared says. “But I’m just going to move on. I’m not going to go all crazy and cry into my ice cream tub as I watch Mean Girls over and over again.”  
  
“I dunno,” Jensen says with a wry smile. “Sounds like a  _fetch_  way to get over someone.”  
  
“Stop trying to make fetch happen! It’s not going to happen _!_ ”  
  
“I will deny all knowledge of this conversation if anyone ever asks.” Jensen laughs, feeling a burst of triumph when Jared follows suit. He decides there and then that it will be his mission today to cheer Jared up.  
  
“Whatever you say,” Jared says with a knowing smile.  
  
“So…how about those cards?” Jensen asks, because it would be kind of nice to get the old calligraphy juices flowing again. And Jensen’s just going to pretend that he didn’t just think that.  
  
“I’ll have to ask Sam first,” Jared says. “But I don’t see why she’d say no.”  
  
“Ask me what?” Sam saunters into the main part of the store, with a suspicious look on her face. Jensen wonders if she has special super powers or something. She did kind of materialise out of thin air, right as Jared said her name. Jensen keeps this thought to himself.  
  
“Uh, Jensen here was saying that he wanted to help us out and maybe offer to write out some special cards for us,” Jared says. “Instead of the ones we scribble on the cards or print out.”  
  
“Sure, why not,” Sam says without even batting an eye. She turns to Jensen. “Charge people an extra five dollars or something, and we’ll talk money later. But first I need you to go over to Fleur and  _snoop_  for me.”  
  
Jensen can tell that today is going to be an unusual day.  
  
~  
  
Two hours later, the store is buzzing and Jared’s actually genuinely  _smiling_. Jensen’s got ink all over his fingers but he doesn’t mind. Turns out that people are actually interested in hand-written calligraphic messages on their cards. Jared decides to charge people five bucks more for it, and offers to give Jensen whatever extra they make, but Jensen turns it down. They take a few orders before closing for lunch and they get talking again.  
  
“So, what are your plans for the rest of the day?” Jared asks. Jensen glances at his watch, even though it’s  _lunchtime_. Even so, seeing the numbers makes him feel a lot calmer about this meal he’s supposed to be making later on. He has plenty of time.  
  
“I’m all yours for the next four hours,” he says with a grin. Jared smiles back and they wolf down the rest their lunch quickly.  
  
~  
  
“So how does a guy like you end up learning how to do calligraphy?” Jared asks after he finishes taking an order. “You’re in law school, right?”  
  
“Well, why do most guys do anything?” Jensen says with a grin. “I was trying to impress a girl.”  
  
“Did it work?” Jared asks.  
  
“Not really,” Jensen says. “There’s nothing romantic about inky fingers. Anyway, how does a guy like you end up working in a florist?”  
  
“I thought it’d be all romantic and shit,” Jared confesses. “Also I needed money and this was the first place that hired me. I like it though, and as a business major, it’s definitely good experience. Though sometimes I see how stressed Sam gets and I think that I’m maybe not cut out for it.” He seems so lost and fearful that Jensen feels the need to reassure him somehow.  
  
“Well, one day when you’re ready to, you can open up your own place and do whatever the hell you want with it. I know that you’ll do a great job.”  
  
“Thanks, Jensen,” Jared says.  
  
~  
  
The store closes at 6pm, which is two hours before Jensen is supposed to be meeting Danneel for dinner. The same dinner which he was supposed to be  _cooking_. Jensen feels a flare of annoyance as he turns to Jared. Not  _at_  Jared but because he’s been having such a good time talking to him that he’d forgotten about his girlfriend.  
  
On Valentine’s Day.  
  
“What’s the matter?” Jared says as he opens the cash till and starts counting. Jensen sighs dramatically.  
  
“I was supposed to be cooking a meal for my girlfriend but I lost track of time.”  
  
“Oh no, I’m sorry,” Jared says hurriedly. “I can call her and explain if you want?”  
  
“She’s my girlfriend, not my mom, dude,” Jensen says with a grin, to show that he’s not mad at Jared; just at himself. “Besides, it’s not your fault and I have had a lot of fun hanging out here today.” Jared doesn’t return the smile, he just looks at Jensen closely with a pensive look on his face. Jensen’s just about to ask what the issue is when Jared tells him to hang on.  
  
“I’ll get Sam to bring out your flowers,” he says before he disappears into the back. Jensen frowns, he hasn’t asked for flowers yet. After five minutes Jared reappears. Jensen opens his mouth to mention the flowers but Jared beats him to it.  
  
“So I had reservations at this nice restaurant downtown,” Jared says. “And I hadn’t cancelled them yet, I asked them to change the name to yours but they were being weird so just give them my last name.” He hands Jensen a small business card with his last name printed on the blank side in sloppy, slanted capitals.  
  
They share a look.  
  
“Uh, thanks,” Jensen says when the silence starts to become awkward. “You didn’t have to do that.”  
  
“It’s not an issue,” Jared replies. “Always happy to help out, and hey if I can’t go, you might as well go.”  
  
“For what it’s worth, I hope you find someone better, Jared,” Jensen says.  
  
Jared nods his response as they’re interrupted by Sam bringing out the flowers. She brings out an arrangement of wild flowers and orchids and it’s exactly what Jensen wanted…  
  
The funny thing is that Jensen’s sure that he never told Jared. So how does he know?  
  
~  
  
Later that night, Jensen is distracted during dinner with Danneel. The food is good and Danneel looks great, and yet his mind is elsewhere. If Jensen was honest with himself, he'd admit that his mind is on focused on firmly on Jared, and the fact that he's probably alone right now. For whatever reason, that bothers Jensen. He seems -  _is -_ a great guy.  
  
He finds himself wondering if he'll ever cross paths with Jared again.  
  
~  
  
 _ **Present Day**_  
  
  
  
By lunchtime, Misha’s shown up with a ukulele. Misha is…well, Jared isn’t too sure. Misha just showed up one day, told Jared that he was doing great work here, and that his spirit animal was a beautiful sight to behold. And then he just stuck around. Jared doesn’t question it anymore. Anyway, Misha plays a song that doesn’t sound too bad and then starts to freestyle. Jared’s sure that Misha is scaring off any potential customers, so he throws him out shortly after. He starts to regret it when the rest of his co-workers avoid him, shooting him looks when they think he can’t see and whispering about him when they think that he can’t hear. He’s not  _that_  much of a downer on Valentine’s Day, seriously. He’s just subdued. There’s really not much that difference between how he is today and how he is on any other day.  
  
“Not really,” Katie says when she helps him restock the card section. “You look like you’ve been kicked in the face by a horse. Twice. No one wants to deal with that.”  
  
“Cowards,” Jared mutters as he slides the card down into the shelf with a lot more gusto than necessary.  
  
“We’re not  _cowards_ ,” Katie insists. “We are just smart enough not to try and cross you on ‘Woe, Jensen doesn’t love me’ Day.” She’s smirking as she says it, and Jared glares at her. They might think that his plight is hilarious but he doesn’t. And they should be lucky that he doesn’t fire them each year like he wants to.  
  
“If it wasn’t for Jensen, you wouldn’t even have a job right now,” Jared says. His voice starts off stern but by the end of the sentence it’s cracked a little. “People can’t just do things like that and expect other people not to be hopelessly in love with them.”  
  
“Look, aren’t you the one who’s always saying stupid shit like, ‘if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen’, and not just in an ' _oh my god, please just buy something and get out of the store’_  way like the rest of us do,” Katie pauses when Jared frowns. “What? If you were normal, you’d do it too, but you’re not, you actually believe that crap, so if it’s meant to be, Jared, it’ll happen.”  
  
“That’s not what Gen thinks,” Jared says with a pout.  
  
“Who cares what anyone else thinks?” Katie says, patting him on the shoulder as she starts to walk past him. “She’s just in a mood because  _her_  boyfriend broke up with her.”  
  
“Thanks, Katie,” Jared says. Hell, maybe she’s right.  
  
 **~**

 

  
**Day 3 | 2008**

**  
**

_A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without love._

Jared’s never really been the kind of guy who falls helplessly in love and pines away until the person who holds his affections finally notices him. No, he’s more of a straightforward person. If he likes someone, he asks them out. It’s probably why he’s been burned so many times, that and his unbridled optimism. Not that he minds; there’s nothing worse than being hung up on someone. Jared knows that, and he’s never had that problem before.  
  
Until now.  
  
It’s probably because it’s Valentine’s Day, but ever since all the decorations started appearing in stores, since college started organising their secret valentine service, since the first freaking heart shaped candy box he saw, since then, Jensen Ackles has been at the forefront of his mind. Or well,  _Jensen_. Jared only knows his full name because Jensen had paid with his debit card last time he was in the shop. And because Jensen spent the  _entire_  day taking Jared’s mind off his break-up with Tom. Did people that you barely knew do things like that or did he and Jensen have some sort of connection? Genevieve, his best friend at college, thought that Jared was just being stupid.  
  
“You just need to meet a nice guy, and you’ll see that this is just a stupid crush,” she said. Not that he’d ever take relationship advice from her. It’s not like he was in love with this guy or anything, he just…thought about him a lot. For all of Genevieve’s disdain, not even she wanted to be anywhere near him during the break-up. No one had, and Jared didn’t blame them. He was horrible to be around when he was upset. Yet Jensen had charmed his way into Jared’s heart and left him in a good mood. Well, except for the part when he’d left to have dinner with his girlfriend. That's when Jared finally made his way back to reality.  
  
“Penny for your thoughts?” Jared’s snapped out of his reverie by a familiar smooth voice and he looks up and finds himself face to face with Jensen. Jensen’s smiling but he looks upset, hints of past frown lines remain on his face and Jared wants to reach over and smooth them out.  
  
“Sorry, just drifted away there for a second.”  _Tulips_ , he thinks. Jared shakes his head and straightens up. He clears his throat and suddenly feels awkward. They haven’t seen each other for a year, and it should feel weird. In fact, it shouldn’t feel like anything, but Jared’s got this weird urge to just tell Jensen everything that’s been happening with him and vice versa.  
  
“Oh, right,” Jensen says. He shoves his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels nervously. “Sorry, I’m just…I had the perfect flowers picked out and then Danneel and I got into this fight.” Jared’s heart does not twinge slightly at the mention of Jensen’s girlfriend. Not even a little bit.  
  
“What did you fight about?” he asks.  
  
“I can’t even remember, it was just…it all boils down to the same thing,” Jensen says in a frustrated tone. “She thinks that I don’t care enough. That I don’t make enough effort.”  
  
“And what did you say?”  
  
“I kind of stormed out,” Jensen admits, “walked around for a bit. And then I remembered last year and I figured that I’d stop by and see how my buddy was doing.”  
  
“So, you’re hiding from your girlfriend.” There’s some commotion from the back and Jared turns even though he can’t see what’s going on. Sam’s niece is helping out today. Apparently she had a rough morning and she could do with a distraction.  
  
“Jensen?” Sam’s niece walks out into the store, and Jared looks from her to Jensen. For some reason he’s drawing a blank on her name.  
  
“Danneel? What are you doing here?” Jensen seems surprised. “I thought you were helping out at your aunt’s store today?”  
  
“This is it,” she says, with a lame hand wave. Jared is torn between attempting to diffuse the awkwardness and leaving the room. Immediately. “I’m going to be in the back with the flowers anyway, so you and---your friend can talk all you want.” She turns back and goes back in the direction she came from. Jensen makes no move to follow her, which surprises Jared. If that was him, he’d be running back and trying to fix things, but it’s not like he’s some sort of relationship expert. Here he is again, single and alone on Valentine's Day.  
  
“So, you’re helping out today, right?” Jared says, not wanting to think about anything negative. Jensen spent last Valentine’s Day cheering him up, it’s time for him to return the favour and help Jensen back into Danneel’s good books.  
  
“Actually, I kind of need to study,” Jensen says. “I only came in here to see you.” There’s an awkward pause when Jared looks up and catches a strange look in Jensen’s eyes. And then he looks away because he’s surely imagining things. It’s not like Jensen  _likes_  him that way. They’re just…friends.  
  
“You can come and sit behind the counter and do that,” Jared says. “And by the end of the day, with my help, you’ll be back in Danneel’s good books.” Jensen doesn’t look convinced but he agrees reluctantly.  
  
Although Sam has them open early for the morning rush, there is no actual morning rush so Jared gets to listen to Jensen explain the whole Danneel situation. It’s typical relationship stuff. She’s pissed because she thinks he doesn’t love her as much as she loves him, he doesn’t pay her enough attention, stuff like that.  
  
Danneel is a nice enough girl, though Jared would never have pegged her down as being someone with typical relationship insecurities. She seems confident in her looks and ability to keep hold of a boyfriend. Of course, not everything is as it seems and all that shit. Jared knows that; he just doesn’t understand women and never has. Still, he gets people and he tells Jensen to leave everything with him. Not because he’s trying to play matchmaker but because Jensen seems like he’s way behind on his studying. Jared’s just helping him out; he’d do it for anyone.  
  
After telling Sam to keep Danneel away from the front, Jared goes out and buys jewellery, a dress, and ingredients for dinner. When he gets back Jensen’s helping out at the register and Sam looks harried.  
  
“The only reason why I’m not yelling at you is because Danneel has been so insufferable that working with the customers has actually been the least bad part of my day.” Sam’s gone with a minute of Jared’s arrival; still mumbling under her breath about her misgivings over the whole  _blood is thicker than water_  thing. Jared doesn’t even want to know.  
  
“Dude, they were arguing back there before I dragged Sam out,” Jensen says once Jared has stashed the bags safely. Jared wants to ask why he got Sam out instead of his  _girlfriend_  but he doesn’t. It’s none of his business; he’s just helping his friend out. That’s it.  
  
“Why doesn’t Danneel get a job somewhere else?” Jared asks. “She doesn’t seem like a florist kind of girl to me?”  
  
“Does that make you a florist kind of girl?” Jensen asks teasingly. Jared levels him with his dirtiest look and Jensen laughs. Jared can’t help laughing along with him because seeing Jensen so… _happy_  is infectious and he wants to do it over and over and…  
  
Crap.  
  
“She’s only working here so her parents don’t cut her off,” Jensen says. “She wants to drop out of college.” The downward tilt of Jensen’s mouth tells Jared that Jensen doesn’t agree with what Danneel wants. Jared bites his lip and says nothing. Luckily a customer comes in and the awkward silence dissolves away.  
  
By the time the end of the day approaches Jared has figured out what advice he’s going to give Jensen. He feels like a bit of a fraud, giving advice when he can’t even hold onto a guy for more than three dates, but he can’t leave Jensen in the lurch. He grabs the bag with the dress and jewellery and hands it to Jensen.  
  
“This,” he says carefully, “is her gift. And the other stuff is some ingredients for dinner. Nothing fancy, just pasta but anyway, it’s what you say that’s important here.”  
  
“And what do I say?” Jensen asks desperately. Jared kind of wants to say  _you should know what to say_ , wants to  _scream_  it. He doesn’t; he just clears his throat and answers.  
  
“Tell her that you’re sorry that you don’t always listen, and that the only reason you came here today was because you knew she’d be here – you were just playing it cool before. Tell her that you don’t know all there is about relationships and that you’re trying, and that she can always come to you when she feels like you’re fucking up – you’ll always be ready to listen from now on. And like, yeah, just apologise for everything. Even shit that you know you haven’t done.”  
  
“Are you speaking from experience?” Jensen asks with a wary smile.  
  
Jared doesn’t smile back. “Nope. Look, you can use my apartment upstairs to cook and stuff. I’ll leave you guys to it for a while. I think Sam could do with a drink.” Jensen thanks him and disappears upstairs. Jared busies himself with tidying the store and collecting his jacket. He’s halfway down the street with Sam when he realises that he forgot his wallet and he jogs back to the store. He creeps into his apartment quickly and grabs it from his room, fully intending to walk back out but the lure of quiet classical music proves to be too much and he can’t resist taking a peek.  
  
What he sees makes his chest hurt so bad with want that he staggers backwards a little. Jensen’s got Danneel’s hands cradled in his as he talks to her quietly. It’s the look in Jensen’s eyes that gets Jared. There’s so much passion and love there that Jared feels naked just from seeing it himself. He can’t help wishing that someone would look at him like that one day….that Jensen would look at him one day.  
  
“I hope you know what you’re getting into with those two,” Sam remarks later on as she’s sipping her third whiskey. Jared pretends not to hear her.  
  
~  
  
Eventually he has to go back to his apartment. He doesn’t think that Jensen’s the type of guy that would have sex in a strange place (not that his apartment is strange) but he doesn’t want to have to clean his sheets or burn his couch. His meagre wages wouldn’t cover the cost of a new couch. Jensen and Danneel look like they’re about ready to leave when he gets back home and Jared breathes a sigh of relief. Danneel goes off to use the bathroom as he and Jensen talk a little.  
  
“What? No hot Valentine hook-up for you this year?” Jensen says, his eyes twinkling while Jared’s heart breaks as he remembers that he’s alone once again.  
  
“I’d have to find a willing participant first,” Jared replies easily. “And as much as I love Sam, she ain’t my type.”  
  
“Like you would have any trouble picking up a guy,” Jensen shoots back. “You’re like…smoking hot. If I was into dudes, I’d hit on you.”  
  
That is…probably not something Jared would say to someone else if his girlfriend was nearby, but Jensen’s eyes do look a little glazed over, perhaps he had too much wine.  
  
“Thanks,” he says quickly. “I think.” Jensen just smiles at him and pats his back gently. Jared does his best not to react to  _that_.  
  
“Hey, I wanted to ask you something,” Jensen says. “What would your ideal Valentine’s gift be?” Danneel is back now, and Jared is starting to feel a little out of place as she gives him a calculated look. It’s almost as though she’s marking her territory. Jared wants to tell her that she already has Jensen, that he’s no threat, but he kind of gets the feeling that it wouldn’t be true.  
  
He likes Jensen. Like  _like_ s him and…it hurts that he’ll never have him. For some reason, he still answers the question.  
  
“Well, I’m greedy so I’d want a multi-part gift,” he says. “Like little tokens collected over a year or a few months by someone who loves me, who’s always thinking of me enough to want to keep a little memento of that thought. Something like that.”  
  
“How romantic,” Danneel says, grinning suddenly. Jensen smiles at her and Jared joins in too, just so he’s not the odd one out. He’s sure that his smile is more of a grimace than a smile, but he can’t bring himself to care. He just wants to flop down on his bed and wallow in his own misery for a while.  
  
“Jared’s the King of Romance,” Jensen says almost proudly, oblivious to the sudden tension in the room.  
  
Danneel snorts. “Then it’s too bad that he’s single.”  
  
It takes everything that Jared has in him to not physically throw them out of his apartment.  
  
He’s probably going to have to work on his self-restraint pretty quickly because as of tomorrow, Danneel’s got a semi-permanent job at Sam’s. Sometimes Jared hates his life.  
  
 **~**  
  
 _ **Present Day**_  
  
  
  
Genevieve’s in a better mood later on in the day. Well, kind of. She tends to think that trash-talking Jensen’s fiancée helps; thinks that it makes him feel better. It doesn’t, not really, but he doesn’t have the heart to tell her that. (And okay, maybe it  _does_ make him feel a bit better.) She’s only met Danneel once, and apparently that is enough for Gen to know that she’s not a good person. Jared’s not as black and white as that - he and Danneel aren’t friends, despite the fact that he’s seen her more times than he has Jensen (and how ridiculous is that?). Anyway, they’re not friends and he doesn’t agree with all of the things that she’s done but she makes Jensen happy.  
  
There’s no way that Jared could ever hate her.  
  
 **~**

 

  
**Day 4 | 2009**

****

_In our life there is a single colour, as on an artist’s palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the colour of love._

  
Sam finally gets fed up of battling with  _Fleur_  and ups and moves to a more popular spot downtown. Of course, when Valentine's Day swings around again, Jensen is not aware of this. Why would he be? It's not like he bothered to keep tabs on Jared, or Sam’s store. He hasn't even enquired via Danneel. If anything, he should be doing something else other than wondering where the fuck the store is. He could ask Danneel, but she's in a bit of a mood - again - and Jensen's sort of relying on Jared to help him out - again. He’s also trying hard not to see what’s wrong with the picture he’s painted. He and Danneel will sort things out; just Valentine’s Day is a sore spot for them both. She hates flowers, apparently. When he pointed out that she had no problem with them before she'd said  _people change, baby._  He can’t help picking out something anyway. It’s the thought the counts, surely. Or is that a mantra that people preach but don’t practice? How can someone really hate flowers? Jensen doesn’t understand. Sometimes, he thinks that he doesn’t get Danneel at all. But then they’ll hit a good patch and he’ll put it down to human nature. It would be weird if he had no reservations at all about their relationship. Plus, he’s sure that this current rough spot is a lot to do with the fact that they finally moved in together last fall. She’d been pushing for some sort of  _commitment_  and Jensen was looking for his own place seeing as how he was about to finish Law School, and it’d seemed like the perfect idea at the time.  
  
A lot of things about Danneel seemed that way.  
  
Still, Jensen loves her. The sex is good, and he can pretty much tell her anything. Well. Mostly anything.  
  
Some things are better left unsaid.  
  
~  
  
So Jensen finds himself standing in front of the now boarded up store. The sign is still there and even though it looks intact it feels like it’s  _fading_. There are plenty of other florists, he tells himself. There was nothing special about Sam’s. Nothing at all. Not a particular tall, brown-haired, six foot forever dude who Jensen may or may not have been looking forward to seeing - for wholly platonic reasons of course. Even so, he should probably just call it a day. Just go down to  _Fleur_  -- or better yet, respect Danneel’s wishes and get her something else.  
  
Jensen should probably do one of those things yet he does neither. What he does do is spend a good three hours searching for Sam’s new place, because there’d been a sign on the door, but the dust-stained glass had covered the address. And the internet on his phone is kind of shitty, and hell, people just aren’t as friendly as they used to be (not that he blames them). Anyway, after three hours he finds the place. For a hot minute, Jensen feels like turning back and just leaving. What is he doing? What’s so special about this place? Just as he’s about to turn away, the door opens and a tall figure steps out and waves at a customer.  
  
Jensen stops and thinks,  _that’s what’s special_.  
  
That’s  _who’s_  special.  
  
“Jensen?!” Jared’s voice booms across the store seconds after Jensen pushes his way in, and Jensen’s faced with a bright beam and enveloped in a hug before he can even get a word out. Danneel’s greetings haven’t been that enthusiastic for a while, though, the fact that everything seems to come back down to her tells Jensen all that he needs to know. They just need to sit down and talk and they’ll be okay again.  
  
“Uh, hey,” he says when he realises that Jared is looking at him expectantly.  
  
“Trouble with Danneel again?” Jared asks suddenly. There’s a bit of a weird tilt to his voice but Jensen’s too busy wondering how the hell Jared figured that out after five freaking seconds. Jensen knows that he’s not an open book. He knows how to hide his emotions and true thoughts, and wear an indifferent expression like a mask. It’s kind of disarming to think that Jared can see right through it. Jensen doesn’t think they’re in trouble; they’re just both stressed out and they are taking it out on each other.  
  
And he just spent three hours looking for a guy that shouldn’t mean a thing to him.  
  
"Actually, we're good," he lies. "Real good. Stronger than ever." Jared smiles at that, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. Jensen pretends not to notice. He grabs hold of the first thing in sight, belatedly realising that it's a heart shaped lollipop. He drops it quickly, as if his hand has been scalded.  
  
"Are you alright, buddy?" Jared asks once he's situated behind the counter. Jensen swallows hard. He should have just found another florist--or just gotten something else.  
  
"I'm fine," he says. "Just tired." He's about to get out his wallet when Jared bounces excitedly and tells Jensen to wait by the counter for a second. Jensen’s thinking about getting roses this year. They’re simple, elegant and say  _I think about you all the time_ , right? He’s still considering it when Jared comes back out with a dozen roses wrapped up in the plastic paper.  
  
“Here you go,” he says cheerfully, as he brushes his bangs out of his eyes. Jensen pretends that he doesn’t find that adorable. He’s a grown man for God’s sake. “I wasn’t sure if Danneel had told you that we moved here, but I put these aside just in case.” Jensen feels his blood go cold. He meets Jared’s eyes but he can’t quite decipher the expression that he finds there. Is Jared trying to catch him out, or is he just making conversation?  
  
“She did tell me,” Jensen says. He sounds on edge, and kind of angry and he takes a deep breath. He reaches into his wallet and slaps far too much cash on the counter.  
  
“Jensen?” Jared says uncertainly. “I wasn’t trying to imply anything. I asked her to tell you...I...didn’t.”  
  
“Have a nice day,” Jensen says right before he rushes out of the store, heart beating twice as fast as usual. He stops once he’s out of view. Jensen’s not sure how long he stands there for feeling hurt and betrayed over the fact that his girlfriend didn’t tell him that her aunt moved her florist store to another location. It’s ridiculous. It shouldn’t mean anything, she probably just forgot.  
  
It  _shouldn’t_ mean anything, but it does. Jensen takes another deep breath and he walks back to the store. He plucks out a rose from the dozen that Jared gave him and he steps in. Jared’s slouched by the counter, miserable look painted on his face.  
  
Jensen hands him the rose and smiles apologetically. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Jared.” They share a look, and Jensen can see the little changes in Jared’s hazel eyes when he realises what Jensen is really saying.  
  
“Thank you,” Jared says simply. They share another heated look before Jensen nods shakily and stumbles out. It’s only when he reaches his car that he realises that his palms are clammy with sweat.  
  
Later when Danneel asks him why there are only eleven roses, he tells her that he gave one away. When he asks her why she didn't tell him that her aunt's shop had moved, she snaps and says, "It's not like you had any trouble finding it!" and they spend the rest of the night bickering.  
  
Jensen finds himself wondering if Jared had a better evening than he did.  
  
~  
  
 **Present Day**  
  
  
  
“I thought you said that this Jensen dude wasn’t warm for your form?” It says a lot that no one even cringes at Chad’s turn of phrase. They’re all used to it by now. And unfortunately for Katie, Jared refused to dump Chad ‘at the bottom of the sewer where he clearly belongs’. Yeah, they didn’t get along. Anyway, Jared’s just finished telling Chad about the time that Jensen gave him a rose, because he sold an order of roses fifteen minutes ago that reminded him of Jensen.  
  
Jared realises how pathetic he’s being. He’s just glad that Chad’s not calling him out on it.  
  
“He wasn’t--isn’t,” Jared says. “He was a jerk and that was his way of apologising.” Jared still remembers how scared he’d been that day that he’s screwed it all up, that he’d never see Jensen again. He had merely been upset at how Danneel had been at the end of the previous Valentine’s Day; at the memory of the snide smirk on her face. It was the past and he should have left it there, instead of butting into something that was none of his business.

 

 

  
**Day 5 | 2010**

****

_Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead._

  


  
Jared graduates in the summer of '09, and Sam decides to sell up soon after. Jared's not sure if it's the business major in him, or the fact that he's kind of grown to love the place, but after receiving bank loan and a hand-out from his parents he becomes the proud new owner of the store. His friend Genevieve agrees to come and help him run the place and together they get the ball rolling.  
  
Fast forward to February '10 and Jared's got his specialty gift store up and running, and things couldn't be going any better. Okay, scratch that. Things could be better. A lot better. Jared is comforted by the fact that he's only been going for a couple of months but word seems to have travelled fast and he has a ton of new customers. He’s also been able to hire some workers and gets more of his friends to help out. His best friend Chad does a couple of shifts here and there, as well as Katie, the ex-girlfriend of one of his old roommates, and Misha when he shows up randomly one day.  
  
He’s not expecting Jensen to show this year; he got an email a while back where Jensen told him that he’d gotten a job out of town and moved away as a result. Jared still pretends that he didn’t destroy himself with tequila and gone-off hot dogs when he heard about it, but Genevieve will never let him live it down. Anyway, he’s not expecting Jensen, but Jensen shows up, dressed in a light grey suit and looking as hot and beautiful as he always does.  
  
“Did your heart just skip a beat, Jare?” Katie asks, using her forefingers to draw a love heart in the air when she walks past him behind the counter. He hisses for her to be quiet and moves forward to greet Jensen.  
  
“Hey!” Jensen says brightly when he sees Jared. Not only does Jared’s heart skip  _another_  beat, he’s pretty sure that his knees actually weaken. Apparently Jensen turns him into a teenage girl within the space of a few seconds. “This place looks like it’s doing well!” Jared finds himself blushing. It’s the first time that Jared’s not been the loser working at a florist, the first time that he’s stood in front of Jensen as a business owner and a part of him feels like Jensen saying that is some sort of affirmation of what he’s done. All Jared is really being is all kinds of pathetic today.  
  
“Yeah, it’s all going great,” he replies quickly when he sees that Jensen is watching expectantly. “Uh, how you’ve been?” Jensen beams then and Jared wonders what the heck is making him  _that_ happy. Somehow he doubts that it’s Danneel.  
  
“Actually, Danneel and I got engaged a few months ago!”  
  
Jared’s heart doesn’t just skip a beat this time; it stops and breaks into a million pieces. He spends the next hour helping Jensen pick out the perfect gift as he pretends that he’s not hurt. And when Jensen leaves, his friends envelope him into a giant hug and tries his best not to cry.  
  
 **Present Day**  
  
  
  
“ _Life is a mystery, everyone must stand alone, I hear you call my naaame, and it feels like home…”_  Jared finds himself standing alongside Katie, Gen and Chad as they watch as Misha serenades a couple with ‘Like A Prayer’. Bizarrely enough people have actually been dropping coins into his ukulele case and making requests despite the fact that Misha is only willing to play Madonna songs because apparently while Madonna has a strange accent and an iconic but presumably fake mole, she still knew ‘what was up’ when it came to understanding the ‘emotion that calls itself love’.  
  
Some might say that Misha is more of a romantic than Jared is, and others might say that Misha is a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic.  _Jared_  might say that he’s a couple sandwiches short of a picnic, but he doesn’t really care so long as Misha doesn’t scare away any of the customers.  
  
“Sadly it’s not even weird anymore,” Katie remarks when Misha bursts into a slowed down version of ‘ _4 Minutes’_.  
  
“At least he didn’t come dressed as Madonna this year,” Chad points out. “Misha in a cone bra is a sight for sore eyes. Like bleeding and half-falling out sore eyes.”  
  
Jared just stands there laughing until a flustered looking teenage boy stumbles into the dick-shaped candles (which are surprisingly popular) and he has to go and put the display back together.

 

  
**Day 6 | 2011**

  
_Absence – that common cure of love._

  


  
Valentine’s Day of 2011 is sort of a Hail Mary for Jared; it’s the day when he makes a good 10% of his annual earnings and he needs it to go well. It also doesn't help that almost  _every_  single one of his recent reviews on  _Yelp_  mentions the fact that come next year, Jared might not even have a store. Come next month, even. The economy seems to have taken a turn for the worse and sales and orders are down and supplies cost a lot more and everything is just a mess. Jared is thinking about calling it quits.  
  
"Well," Genevieve says from where she's putting change into the registers. "At least you're not thinking about Jensen."  
  
"Wow, Gen, ever heard of tact?" Katie says as she walks past with a cardboard box in her hands. She bats Jared's hands away when he reaches out to give her a hand. "Don't listen to her." It's kind of hard not to listen to his best friend, and in a way she's right. Being so worried about the store means that he hasn't been torn up over Jensen, that and the fact that he hasn’t seen Jensen since he told Jared that he was engaged.  
  
He finds that the time apart helps with the whole unrequited love thing. Well…just a little.  
  
~  
  
Jensen shows up around three. The store isn't exactly buzzing, but there are a lot more people than Jared expected. Jared's just about to say something to Jensen when Katie comes rushing out with a laptop in her hands.  
  
"Hey, boss, have you seen this?" she calls excitedly. He takes the laptop from her and looks at the screen, eyes widening when he sees the site that she has open. It's some sort of donation site for the store, and at the moment the large number on the screen claims they've raised just under nine grand. Jared feels his eyes tearing up, and he clears his throat loudly and turns back to Jensen.  
  
"What's all the excitement about?" Jensen asks from he’s standing.  
  
“The store hasn’t been bringing in a lot of money recently, word got out and some awesome person started a donation website,” Katie explains. “People from all over have been leaving donations. It’s great!” Jared does his best not to focus on the ‘word got out’ because there’s still a part of him that feels like he’s fucking up this whole owning his own business thing.  
  
“It is,” Jensen agrees with a smile. “Danneel would be gutted if this place closed down; I’d never know what to get her without Jared’s help.” Jared can’t help the sinking feeling inside his chest. _They’re still engaged then_ , he thinks morosely.  
  
“Oh boy,” Katie murmurs under her breath.  
  
“Did she like what you got her last year?” Jared asks. Jared’s kind of ashamed to admit that he tends to pick out stuff that  _he_ would like, just so he can say that Jensen trusts his judgement enough to buy whatever he recommends. Plus, Danneel seems like a diamonds from Tiffany’s kind of girl; there’s no way that she likes the stuff that Jared picks out. But Jensen keeps coming back…what can Jared do?  
  
“Uh, she loved it,” Jensen says quickly. “Can we maybe speed things up; I have to drive back up so I can make it in time for dinner.”  
  
~  
  
Later that day, when they’re closing up, Katie comes running out of the backroom, with the laptop still in her hands. The last total Jared heard was $15,000, which is great. He doesn’t know how he’s going to repay everyone who’s donated, or the person who set the site up in the first place. Genevieve points out that he doesn’t have to  _repay_ anyone. That’s the point of donations apparently.  
  
“Jared, you’re not going to believe this!” Katie yells. “A ‘JRA’ just doubled our total – they donated another 15k.” Jared’s first thought is that JRA is  _Jensen_  (because his middle name is Ross, and his last name is Ackles), but he quickly realises how ridiculous he’s being. Jensen had dropped way too much money when he’d been in earlier. There’s no reason why he would leave a donation as well.  
  
“Could be anybody,” he says nonchalantly, and then with a little more feeling, “I can’t believe that people care so much about my crappy store.”  
  
“It’s not crappy,” Genevieve says when she comes over to glance at the screen. “And  _Jensen_  certainly seems to care a lot.”  
  
“Just not the way I want him to,” Jared replies, because he knows that the donation was from Jensen. He just doesn’t know how the hell he’s supposed to react to that, or how he’s supposed to stop himself from falling deeper when Jensen does something like this.  
  
 **Present Day**  
  
  
  
“Didn’t you and Jensen have that huge blow-up last year?” Chad asks. It’s almost closing time and there’s been no sign of Jensen. Jared’s doing his best to put on a best face, Genevieve is recycling all the trash-talk, Misha is singing  _Like A Virgin_  in falsetto and Katie is currently jabbing Chad in his arm. Things in the store are quiet but Jared doesn’t have the heart to close just yet. Jensen might be running late or…something. Maybe he’s just kidding himself. Chad’s right; they did have a blow up last year and Jared doubts that Jensen’s even going to show up.

 

  
**Day 7 | 2012**

  
_Love is like a friendship caught on fire._

  
Jared’s been staring at the same text on his phone for the past fifteen minutes. Genevieve and Misha are working the tills, and he’s supposed to be restocking the shelves and updating the registry. Instead he’s torturing himself by looking at a text message from Jensen that clearly means that he’s still off limits.  _Yup, I’m still engaged,_ it says,  _and I expect you to have an awesome gift waiting for me_. There’s a smiley face at the end that Jared swears is mocking him. There’s nothing to smile about, not when he’s jealous of a woman that he’s never met and in love with a man that he sees  _once_  a year. Of course there's something that Jared knows about Danneel that Jensen doesn't. Jared probably shouldn't take what Sam says to heart, but when he'd last spoken to her she might have mentioned something that she shouldn't have. Apparently Danneel made a mistake, but she was completely devoted to Jensen now, and willing to work at it.  
  
The whole thing made Jared angry, and he found himself waiting for Jensen to pop in so he could give the guy a piece of his mind. It was nothing to do with him,  _nothing_  but he just had to say it. They were friends. Jensen would at least hear him out. Right?  
  
-  
  
That's not how it went. They went through the whole Jared's heart stopping at the sight of Jensen, who seriously got more and more gorgeous every year. And the ‘how are you's, ‘how've you been's and ‘long time no see’s.  
  
"We haven't set the wedding date yet," Jensen says when Jared asks. "Danneel's not so sure about whether or not she wants a summer or winter wedding."  
  
"I'll bet," Jared says quietly. "Y'all have been together for such a long time; you'd have thought that she'd have considered that before now." Jensen's face tightens a bit, and the genuine smile on his face is replaced by something tight and angry. Jared's sure that Jensen's heard this before.  
  
"No offence, Jare," he says. "You know nothing about me and Danneel. She knows what she wants, but hell, it's her wedding day. The most important day of her life. She can take however long she wants." And maybe Jared  _doesn't_ really have the right to say anything.  
  
"Jared, can I borrow you for a second?" Genevieve's voice cuts into the intense staring match that he and Jensen are engaging in.  
  
"Not now, Gen," he says, knowing fully well that she probably thinks he's being way out of line right now. "Look after the store for a minute would you; me and Jensen are going to talk in the back."  
  
"Where do you get off trying to tell me about my fiancée?" Jensen hisses once the door is shut. "You're supposed to be my friend, Jared. You've always been the one person who I can rely on to tell--"  
  
"To tell you what to do?" Jared interjects. "To help you win over someone who doesn't give two shits about the effort you've put into your relationship? To hear how she's hurt you yet again?" As the words slip out of his mouth Jared wishes he could scoop them up and shove them back in, but the dam is well and truly broken and he can't seem to stop himself.  
  
"You fight on what seems like every Valentine's Day, and that's the one day that couples are supposed to at least pretend that they like each other. If you can't do that, what the hell is your marriage going to be like?" Jared knows that he should be shutting the fuck up right about now but he’s amped up and ready to explode.  
  
“I take it that you’ve been talking to Sam,” Jensen says coldly. “Well, I know all about what Danneel did and I’ve forgiven her. We’re still together and we’re getting married, Jared. I’m just so sorry that you’re so perfect and make no mistakes.”  
  
“No one is saying that I’m perfect,” Jared says. “What I’m  _saying_  is that you deserve better!” Jensen groans to himself at that and takes a step backwards and begins to pace around the room. He pinches the bridge of his nose and turns to face Jared again.  
  
“Why are you doing this?” he asks desperately. “Why are you saying all of these things?”  
  
“Because I’m your friend,” Jared shoots back. “Because I care about you.”  
  
“If you cared, you’d not say shit like that about my girlfriend,” Jensen yells. “You’d be  _happy_  for me, Jared. God, why the hell aren’t you happy for me?!”  
  
“Because I’m in love with you, you idiot,” Jared screams back. Jensen does his best impression of a goldfish, mouth opening and closing as if he wants to talk but the words are refusing to come out. Coldness seeps into Jared as he realises what he’s just said; what he’s just done.  
  
He’s ruined everything.  
  
“Get out,” he whispers. “Please leave.  
  
“Jared…” Jensen finally finds his voice and Jared can already hear the pity and see it on his face. He suddenly can’t do this anymore. He doesn’t want to look at Jensen, doesn’t want to see him or hear him.  
  
“Please just leave, Jensen,” he says quietly, swallowing hard when Jensen just stares at him. “ _Please_.”  
  
Jensen leaves and Jared crumples to the floor and sits with his legs propped up, knees under his arms. That’s where Genevieve finds him five minutes later. He can’t help the tears that escape when she sits next to him on the ground and draws him into a tight hug.  
  
 **Present Day**  
  
  
  
Hours later when Jensen really doesn’t show up; when it’s really final, Jared tells himself that Genevieve is right. It’s good that he hasn’t shown up. Sure, what Katie said was a nice fantasy but, that’s all it is. The absence might mean that Jensen’s finally gotten married and that he’s found a closer florist-cum-gift shop where the manager doesn’t try to guess what he wants all the time, where he doesn’t have to deal with a lovesick idiot who tried to sabotage his relationship.  
  
Or maybe he’s moved countries.  
  
Or maybe he’s---  
  
\---hell, there’s no point in maybes.  
  
Besides, Jensen not showing up means there’ll be no wishing that Jensen was buying a gift for him. No replaying the moment that they part in his head over and over until he falls asleep from exhaustion.  
  
No disappointment.  
  
It turns out that Jared’s kind of shit at lying to himself, and that absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

 

  
**Day 9 | The Next Day | 2013**  
 _When two people are meant for each other, no time is too long, no distance is too far, no one can ever tear them apart._

  


  
**February 15th**  
  
Jared’s cleaning up the shop at three in the morning. Sure, he could leave it until the morning, but it seems kind of pointless to not do it now. It’s not like he can sleep. He’s too busy wrapped up in thoughts of Jensen. He’s wondering why the other man never showed up yesterday. There’s been no text, no call, and Jared’s been worrying himself sick. What if something has happened? He's tried calling (he lost that battle with himself a long time ago) but the number's been disconnected. It's funny because he's never even attempted to call before. Sure, he's thought about it but he never--Jared's suddenly wrenched out of his thoughts when there's a loud crash. He's halfway through panicking and wondering if he has a baseball bat in the back when Chad's head pops up, amongst all the stuff that was on the now toppled over rotating stand.  
  
"So you got watch-Jared duty this year?" Jared sighs. "I can't clean up my own store now?"  
  
Chad shrugs. "Just following orders, man. Genevieve can be scary when she wants to be."  
  
"Well, you can go home, because I am fine. I'm more than fine." Jared winces at the crack in his voice that belies his words. Still, Chad isn't usually the sharpest tool in the shed. Maybe he'll buy what Jared tells him and just  _leave_.  
  
"Dude, listen, I get that you're hung up over this guy," Chad starts. "And its fine with me, I'm not going to rag on you like the others do. They don't know how you feel. Only you do. And you have to ask yourself if feeling like this is worth it. If the answer is no, then you owe it to yourself to move on. You deserve better."  
  
"Thanks, Chad," Jared says. "Now get out of my store."  
  
Jared goes for a run and thinks about what Chad said. Jared is sure that he's said the same thing to people himself. He  _does_ need to move on. He needs to face reality. Jensen not feeling the same way isn't the only barrier that they'd face. They don't really know each other. One day a year, a hefty donation and a few emails don't even amount to a friendship let alone the foundation of a relationship. His friends are right. He has to let this go. And as he pounds the pavement, sneaker-clad feet slapping down in a steady rhythm, Jared starts to feel like a weight has been lifted.  
  
Of course all of his soul searching is for naught when he gets back to the store and sees a familiar looking figure standing in front of the display. For the first time, Jared wishes that he didn't live above the store. He's sweaty, smelly and...Jensen's here. Desperate not to get his hopes up (maybe Jensen was just busy yesterday); Jared makes his way over slowly. He can tell the moment that Jensen spots him because the other man starts to shift nervously. That only serves to put Jared on edge - more so than he is already. He tries to maintain his resolve. He's going to get over this whole being in love thing. Just after this one last meeting. He has to at least say goodbye right? And he can totally have a decent conversation with the man without coming across as a crazy stalker right?  
  
"Hey, Jared," Jensen says when Jared finally reaches him (he might have slowed down a little to think about what he was going to say).  
  
"Hey," Jared says easily. And then: "I tried calling when I didn't see you yesterday. Thought that something might have happened." A myriad of emotions flash across Jensen's face, ranging from confusion to realisation to what Jared hopes isn't pity.  
  
"Sorry, I...my cell broke and I--" Jensen cuts himself off. "Sorry, I should have made sure that everyone had my new number. I didn't mean to worry you." One of the other store owners on this block walks past and gives them and interested look. Jared moves to unlock the door that leads to his apartment and he beckons Jensen in. He doesn't stop to consider the awkwardness factor until Jensen clears his throat awkwardly.  
  
"Take a seat, or make coffee or whatever," Jared says hurriedly. "I'm just gonna go grab a quick shower." Jensen nods and Jared rushes out of the room, and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. He leans against it and takes a deep breath.  
  
~  
  
Jensen's looking at the framed pictures on the shelves when Jared finally re-emerges. His hands fall guiltily when he sees Jared and he smiles apologetically.  
  
"There's a picture of Danneel on here," Jensen says absently. "With Sam, I mean."  
  
"You can take it if you want," Jared says, not voicing the  _I probably would have ripped it into shreds anyway._ "She might want a copy."  
  
"Oh, I wouldn't know," Jensen says. "I never knew what she wanted. Or what I wanted."  
  
"Why are you here, Jensen?" Jared asks suddenly. "I...we don't do this. Not outside of Valentine's Day. That's..."  
  
"Our day?" Jensen says when Jared doesn't continue. "And I screwed up by not turning up yesterday."  
  
"Maybe you should go," Jared says. He can't do this. He can't have this weird cryptic conversation with Jensen. Not when he's so torn up and confused.  
  
"I broke up with Danneel," Jensen admits quickly. "Or rather, she broke up with me. She said that I had to figure out what I wanted. Who I wanted."  
  
"Jensen..."  
  
"I like you, Jared, and I've spent the past year trying to figure out how to tell you. But I wanted to be sure about how I felt."  
  
All Jared can think is, it took a whole year? Maybe there's something wrong with him. Jensen must sense his apprehension because he steps forward and gives Jared a pleading look.  
  
"I had to make sure that I was over Danneel...we were together for so long that rushing here wouldn't have been fair on you."  
  
"What makes you so certain that I like you back," Jared asks, because that's what irks him the most. Jensen hasn't asked if Jared likes him back.  
  
"I...I mean…you said you  _loved_  me," Jensen says. "And one of your friends found my email somehow and chewed me out. Told me to stop leading you on."  
  
Jared is going to kill Genevieve.  
  
"So why didn't you come yesterday?" Jared asks. "You must have known that I'd be expecting you, and if you knew that I liked you..."  
  
"In hindsight, I maybe should have called," Jensen says. "But I didn't want to do this on Valentine's Day, because truth be told, I don't care about Valentine's Day. But I love how into it you get, and I know how much of a romantic you are and I just wanted to prove that I'm in this for the long haul. I don't want to have a one day a year relationship with you anymore; I want the other 364 days. I want all of them, Jared, and just, yeah."  
  
If Jared thinks about it, that's actually kind of sweet. As much as he loves Valentine's Day, he can see the contrivance of it all, and Jensen is right, really, their relationship should be more than one day. It just...it’s too much, it’s too easy. Jensen wasn't supposed to turn up here and offer him everything on a plate. He wasn't supposed to admit that he liked Jared. Hell, they barely know each other.  
  
Yet, it feels like they've known each other for a lifetime. Before either of them can break the sudden silence, there's a knock downstairs. Jared tells Jensen to wait where he is and he goes down to see who it is. It's a parcel delivery. He signs for it. It's a box (and it’s kind of heavy). He takes it up to the apartment and ignores Jensen as he locates his letter opener and uses it to open the box. There’s a small wooden chest. Jared opens it and finds himself looking at a random assortment of items. There’s a piece of white paper sitting on top and Jared picks it up, unfolds it and reads it. It says:  _From Jensen._ Jared looks up at Jensen expectantly.  
  
"You said once, that your most perfect Valentine’s Day gift would be something that showed you that you were in that person's heart every day of the year, not just one. And it took me a while to figure out how to get a gift like that. But then I would see things that reminded me of you, or hear something that I wanted to tell you and I just started putting everything in a box.”  
  
“Why didn’t you just pick up the phone or email?” Jared’s trying to believe Jensen, he really is, but he’s just not completely convinced. Though, it’s not like Jensen has anything to gain out of leading Jared on, right? Not that Jared would know, because...he doesn’t really know Jensen. Sure he knows little things, like how Jensen’s not really into football, but he pretends he is just so he can have some bonding time with his Dad. He knows that Jensen’s more of homemade meal guy than a restaurant guy, knows that he hates The Beatles, but he tells people that ‘All You Need Is Love’ is one of his favourite songs just to spare himself the lecture. All of that…all of those small details, they all boil down to nothing.  
  
There’s no way that this could ever work.  
  
“It...Wasn’t that easy,” Jensen says, startling Jared out of his thoughts. “Danneel was around for so long, and I wanted to have this conversation face to face so that I could look in your eyes and see for myself.”  
  
Jared doesn’t respond; he can’t seem to find the words.  
  
“Look, you need time….I can give you that. I’ll come back. Just. Think about it.” Before Jared can even react, Jensen’s out of the door. Jared watches him go and while he knows that he should go after him, he can’t help thinking that Jensen doesn’t get to do this. He can’t just show up here, drop a huge bombshell and then expect Jared to chase after him.  
  
Jared’s friends have other ideas. He looks up into the doorway to see Chad, Katie, Misha and Danneel watching him. Genevieve is too busy glaring at Danneel. Jared can’t help following suit. Last time she was here they didn’t exactly part on good terms.  
  
“I just want to apologise,” Danneel says when she catches Jared looking at her. “I was a bit of a bitch to you over the years. And I’m kind of invested in you and Jensen, seeing as how I spent the last year trying to get him to man up and come and sort things out with you. Don’t give him a chance to run, Jared. I mean, isn’t Jensen who you’ve wanted along?”  
  
“As much as it pains me to say it, she’s right, Jared,” Gen says. “Come on. Go after him.”  
  
~  
  
Jensen’s not made it very far. He’s hovering outside the front door, muttering to himself quietly. Jensen almost jumps out of his skin but he smiles awkwardly when he sees Jared.  
  
“I was going to come back in,” he says hurriedly. “I can’t just drop all of that on you and then  _run_.” Jensen laughs nervously and Jared decides to take pity on him.  
  
“You didn’t tell me that Danneel was here,” Jared says because he can’t just ignore this particular fact.  
  
“She drove me down here,” he replies. “She’s been great ever since we split.”  
  
“She owes you that much,” Jared says quietly.  
  
“And I owe her,” Jensen says. “She might have done all of those things you were saying last year, but I’m no angel either, Jared. You know that right? I’m not perfect…and I would hate for you to have this unrealistic image of me in your head that I could never live up to.”  
  
“I barely know you, Jensen,” Jared says. Jensen’s face falls. “Not really. But I’d like to get to know you properly…to give this a chance.”  
  
“Really?” Jensen asks excitedly while doing a poor job of hiding the smile on his face.  
  
“Yes, really.” Jared can’t help laughing when Jensen leaps forward and pulls him into a tight hug.  
  
He’s finally got what he wants.  
  
 **Day 12 | 2013**  
  
 _You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams._  
  
 **February 18 th **  
  
  
They agree to take it slow, and that agreement seems reasonable until Jared realises that they've been dancing around each other for years. After years of lingering glances, and a mixture of longing, guilt, angst and pain, it's inevitable that all of the tension will just explode at one point. They set off a time bomb all those years ago and slow or not, it has to go off at some point. Of course that point ends up being halfway through a Monday shift when Jensen leans over and murmurs, "I really want to kiss you right now," into Jared's ear in a voice that goes straight to his cock. Warmth spreads through Jared's body and he glances up at the clock. He's the only one on shift at the moment and it's not like they're going to get an influx of customers so he goes over to the door, bolts it and flips the sign. A wave of nervousness hits him as he turns back, because he's pretty sure that he and Jensen are about to have sex and that makes him feel anxious. What if Jensen and he aren't compatible sex-wise; what if Jensen realises that he can do better? What if Jensen turns out like all those other guys Jared has dated? Willing to stick around until it gets too much; until Jared scares him away?  
  
"Whatever you're thinking, stop," Jensen's suddenly there in front of him, and he's looking at Jared as if there's nothing more he could want. He looks happy, and Jared decides to stop second guessing himself; to stop second guessing Jensen. They're together. Jensen came back for  _him_.  
  
"What were you saying about kissing me?" Jared's voice is a little shaky. He can tell that Jensen wants to comment on whatever little moment Jared was having, but instead he doesn't say anything. He just drags Jared forward and kisses him soundly. Jared sighs into the kiss, because even though Jensen's been here for a week now, it never grows old. Jared loves the taste of Jensen's mouth on his, loves the weight of Jensen's tongue; the way it lights up all of his nerve endings.  
  
And really, it's good thing that everyone knows that Jared is sappy bastard who lives for romantic metaphors that make no sense.  
  
They're both giggling as they make their way back through the store, and into the back room. They could just go up to Jared's apartment, but hey, that's always there for whenever they get to round two. Jensen's kissing him again as they stumble in and move until Jared backs into the table, legs bending as he goes down, using his arm to brush all of the items on the table onto the ground. He thinks he hears a mug shatter but he doesn't care because Jensen's leaning on top of him and kissing him. The table creaks beneath their weight, but it's sturdy and judging from the hard on pressing against Jared's thigh, neither of them are going to last. They're rutting against each other, movements sloppy and slow as they nip and bite at each other’s mouths. Soon they’re jerking each other off, hands slipping down their slick cocks as they pant into each other’s mouths. They fall off table in the midst of it all, and it’s not even as much as mood killer as it ought to be. He feels Jensen shuddering his release moment before he comes and Jared can’t help smiling into Jensen’s neck happily.  
  
They're laughing in a heap when the door springs open. He feels Jensen zipping up his jeans before he extracts himself from Jared. Katie is standing there with wide eyes. She squeals when Jared grins at her.  
  
"Sorry, I left my purse in here," she says, before looking down at them and frowning. Her nose wrinkles up adorably. "And seriously, you guys couldn't fuck each upstairs? I eat my lunch in here!" She doesn't look too unhappy so Jared just shrugs, and mumbles an apology. Katie grins.  
  
"I have to tell Genevieve about this!" she says, with another squeal! "Bye, guys. Don't forget to keep it wrapped!"  
  
~  
  
  
  
Later after rounds two and three, Jensen finds himself in Jared's bed wondering if any of this is real. When he'd decided to come, he hadn't thought that they'd be at this point by now, and a part of him felt like it'd all been too easy. And now that he knew that they at least worked on a physical level, they needed to talk. Or well, he needed to know when thing.  
  
"When did you know?" he asks abruptly. Jared's eyes blink open and he smiles softly. Jensen can see the question in his eyes. "That you had, you know, feelings for me."  
  
"Oh, that's easy; it was the second time we met." Jensen's pretty sure that he stops breathing. He knows that Jared's been into him for a while, but...that was eight years ago. And Jared sort of told him he loved him last year. "Don't freak out, I didn't even know that it was love, I thought it was a crush. You spent that day with me, even though you had better things to do and I just...couldn't get you out of my head. I...what about you?"  
  
"In this past year," Jensen admits. "I can't say when I started, just when I realised. You made me so mad that day, with all the stuff you said about Danneel. I was set to marry her and I thought you were being petty and jealous but you were just trying to save me from getting hurt and from hurting Danni..."  
  
"Jensen..." Jared trails off because he doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t want to wallow in all the hurt from the past, or well,  _the past_. None of it matters anymore.  
  
"We wasted so much time, and that’s all my fault,” Jensen says. “I’m s—“  
  
“Let’s just agree to start afresh,” Jared interrupts. They’re just going to end up going round and round in circles otherwise.  
  
“Okay,” Jensen says simply. “Should we reintroduce each other like they do in the movies?” Even though Jensen’s joking, he’s given Jared the perfect opportunity to say what he’s wanted to say from the very beginning.  
  
“Nah,” he replies softly. “I already know who you are. You’re the love of my life.” Jensen doesn’t respond he just leans over and kisses Jared soundly.  
  
 **Epilogue**  
  
 **Day 373 | 2014**  
 _You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams._  
  
 _Friday 14th February Day 2014_  
  
“I can’t believe we lost this bet,” Jensen is grumbling as he wraps up yet another penis-shaped candle and hands it over to a very amused customer. Jared thinks it’s hilariously cute how Jensen’s more embarrassed than any of the people buying the damn things, and he would tell him so, but he’s got more pressing things on his mind.  
  
“I can’t believe that we’ve been together for a year,” Jared replies as he hauls Jensen in for a kiss. Jensen responds eagerly and what Jared intended to be a light press of lips turns into a fully blown make out session.  
  
“Ugh, get a room you two,” Chad says from where he’s ruining the perfect card display that Jared set up in the morning. Jensen waves him off and Chad flips them the bird, but Jared can see the hints of a smile on his face.  
  
“I can’t believe that today is technically our only Valentine’s Day so far,” Jensen muses thoughtfully. “It feels like we’ve been through a lot more, even though I was with Danneel and we were, you know. Is that weird?”  
  
Jared shakes his head and smiles, “It’s kind of fitting, really, and okay, it’s a little unconventional, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”  
  
“Yeah,” Jensen agrees, eyes lighting up as he returns Jared’s smile. “Me neither.”  
  
 **Fin**  
  
Thanks for reading. 

**Author's Note:**

> Quotes: 
> 
> "Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies." – Aristotle
> 
> "Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr
> 
> “Friends can help each other. A true friend is someone who lets you have total freedom to be yourself-and especially to feel. Or not feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at the moment is fine with them. That's what real love amounts to -- letting a person be what he really is ...” – Jim Morrison
> 
> "A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without love." - Max Muller
> 
> "In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love." - Marc Chagall 
> 
> "Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead." - Oscar Wilde
> 
> "Absence - that common cure of love." - Lord Byron
> 
> "Love is like a friendship caught on fire.” – Bruce Lee
> 
> "When two people are meant for each other, no time is too long,no distance is too far, and no one can ever tear them apart." Source Unknown
> 
> 'You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality isfinally better than your dreams.' - Dr. Seuss


End file.
